RICHMOND, VA (September 19, 2026) – The Charlotte Independence closed their three-match week with a victory Saturday night, defeating the Richmond Kickers 2-1 at City Stadium to move back into first place.
The Jacks found the back of the net twice in the first half against their rivals to grab their seventh consecutive victory over the Kickers. Joey Skinner scored the game-winner as the first half dwindled down with Jon Bakero making more league history atop the all-time assist list.
The Jacks threatened to open the scoring just three minutes in. In familiar fashion, Bakero delivered a pinpoint set piece onto the head of Souaibou Marou, but the forward couldn’t keep his header under the crossbar.
Minutes later, another Bakero delivery produced the opener. The Spaniard’s corner kick was met by a combination of Marou and Richmond’s Owen O’Malley, with the ball taking the final touch off the Kickers midfielder and finding the back of the net to give Charlotte the lead in the eighth minute.
The Kickers responded just four minutes later. O’Malley spotted Tarik Pannholzer between Independence center backs Javen Romero and Kevin Riascos, and Pannholzer blasted a finish into the bottom corner for a quick equalizer.
Charlotte broke away on a two-on-zero counterattack in the 27th minute. After clearing a Richmond free kick deep in their own half, Christy Manzinga burst forward with nothing but green grass ahead of him and Marou to his right. However, as Manzinga approached the penalty area, his touch got away from him, allowing goalkeeper Yann-Alexandre Fillion to rush out and extinguish the chance.
Marou continued to pose a threat and had a golden opportunity to restore Charlotte’s lead in the 37th minute. Chris Jaime clipped a ball over the top to the streaking striker, who beat the onrushing Fillion to it but couldn’t direct his effort into the vacant net from 25 yards.
At long last, the Independence reclaimed the lead three minutes before the break. Bakero pulled the strings once again, threading a pass through to Skinner, who made a run inside. The outside back took a touch before dispatching a left-footed finish for his third goal in as many games.
With the assist, Bakero tied Nil Vinyals for the USL League One all-time record with 23 career assists.
Marou could not buy a goal in the first half and was denied once more on the final play before the break. Manzinga delivered an excellent cross to the back post, where Marou rose to meet it, but Tyler Freeman cleared his header off the goal line to preserve the one-goal advantage heading into halftime.
Charlotte was comfortable keeping the ball during the second half, but the lack of a third goal left the game feeling not settled. Richmond made an array of offensive substitutions to try level things.
A third looked to come in the 85th minute, but woodwork denied Jefferson Amaya. The young midfielder took aim from 20 yards, but Fillion got just enough to push the strike onto the crossbar.
Richmond couldn’t muster anything dangerous on Matt Levy, as the Independence defense did not give the Kickers’ attackers a sniff in the four minutes of added time. The win is Charlotte’s third over the Kickers this season in all competitions.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Mike Jeffries on the victory:
“Maybe a little bit fortunate with the first goal to get in the lead. I didn’t think we played great after that for a stretch. I did feel, just before Joey’s goal and then Joey’s goal, that we had good chances in the first half to up the lead. At 2-1, we didn’t take our chances as well as we should have.
“The second half was a little bit tighter for us. I thought we were actually good in possession, but we couldn’t really get the quality of chances that we had in the first half. I felt like we could have managed the game a little bit better at the end.
“But this was a hard trip. You know, a long trip, two cross-country flights. Given all that, I think it’s an important result for us.”
Jeffries on the difference in style of play from the first to the second half:
“The first half, I thought they stepped up a little bit higher, and we were able to break in behind and get chances. I thought they put numbers forward a little more, and we were able to get counters. The second half, we weren’t able to do that. We may have hit a little bit of a wall in terms of not being quite as sharp and so forth. We ended up playing a little bit more in front of their back group, and they managed it. That being said, I thought we actually had a couple of pretty good looks.”
Joey Skinner on his goal-scoring form:
“I just want to contribute my success as of late to God. Without him providing opportunities, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today. Would like to give my teammates a lot of credit too for giving me confidence and helping to play with freedom on the pitch.”
Chris Jaime on the three-match week:
“We did a fantastic job during this hard, cross country and back trip. I’m super proud of the whole week, especially that mid week scrap with a man down at Boise. These are huge road points that we’ll need to finish top of the table.”
